Phalloplasty/Slamophiliac – This Split Sucks (CDN Records)
Monday, 18th June 2018
One has to compliment the obvious Beavis & Butthead references here, not only in regard to the artwork but the album title itself. Amusing in some regards, it’s enough for some to potentially check out the split if they are unfamiliar with the two bands it involves – even if both bands more or less give away their shtick in their names already.
For those unfamiliar, both acts here are brutal, slamming death metal and are headed by one man each. So this split gives some unity to it in bringing two solo acts together. There’s a similar mechanic to both bands, as one might assume based on everything so far. In either scenario, expect what one always tends to expect with ‘go for the slam’ death metal. The vocals are completely over the top and front-and-center when it comes to production. The recordings are a bit lo-fi, but it’s a suiting tone to give each band their requisite power and rawness. The riffing strength leans slightly in the way of Slamophiliac, but both are churning out lumbering grooves atop the massive low vocals, with some slight upticks in speed but never to the point of avoiding some slam time. It’s a formula that works for those dedicated to the cause, but for anyone outside of said circle, it’s more of a rote formula that they pull from. In other words, it’s quite heavy and brutal in may ways, but one-dimensional about it.
While This Split Sucks doesn’t thankfully stay true to it’s title, it does deliver more of the same from a genre that tends to do a lot of repetition. The unfortunate side is that most splits offer some variation and provide the listener with a potential new group to check out. This one merely shows two takes on the same material – for better or worse.
Phalloplasty on Facebook
Slamophiliac on Facebook
